Italy to deploy army to combat 'Triangle of Death' mafia dumps

The Italian government has agreed to send in the army to fight the mafia, which it blames for illegally dumping tonnes of toxic garbage in an area dubbed the "Triangle of Death".

Toxic waste has been buried in Campania province for decades, ever since the local Camorra crime syndicate decided to branch out into the lucrative waste disposal business in the 1980s.

Instead of paying exorbitant sums to have it disposed of legally, companies paid mobsters a fraction of the cost to dump it in fields, wells and lakes.

Defence undersecretary Gioacchino Alfano says the army can be deployed "to deal with in the most efficient manner the phenomenon of the environment mafia in the area between Naples and Caserta".

Parliament is due to examine the decree but Mr Alfano says that "for the first time, all political forces are in agreement to offer concrete solutions to resolve a specific problem".

The smoke-choked area north of Naples dubbed the "Triangle of Death" includes the towns of Acerra, Nola and Marigliano.

It is a grim sight - a short trip but a world away from the postcard images of the city's bay and its famous cuisine.

Hidden out of sight down dirt tracks in the countryside, vast mounds of illegal and hazardous garbage, from broken sheets of asbestos to car tyres and containers of industrial-strength glue, lie rotting next to farmed fields.